Whatsapp Facebook Twitter The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying Shukla and the multinational Ax-4 crew, undocked from the ISS at 4:45 pm IST on Monday and completed a carefully orchestrated 22-hour journey home — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 15, 2025 At Shukla’s family home in India, the air was filled with cheers, prayers, and joyful tears as relatives, neighbours, and supporters came together to celebrate the return of India’s newest space hero. “Today is a very joyous day for us. We are praying to God for his safe landing. It is a matter of great happiness that he is returning after successfully completing his mission. It is a moment of immense pride for us and for the country that he has completed such a significant mission,” Shukla’s father, Shambhu Dayal Shukla, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Suchi, Shubhanshu Shukla’s sister, shared that her brother brought Indian sweets like gajar ka halwa and moong dal ka halwa to the International Space Station, knowing how much he loves them. She said he was eager for his fellow astronauts to try them too. “From whatever we know through videos and posts, they all liked it so much,” she said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Shukla’s successful return from the historic Axiom-4 mission is a proud moment for every Indian. “Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s successful return from the historic Axiom-4 mission is a proud moment for every Indian. He has not just touched space, he has lifted India’s aspirations to new heights. His journey to the International Space Station and back is not just a personal milestone, it is a proud stride for India’s growing space ambitions. Wishing him great success in his future endeavours,” the Defence Minister wrote in a post on X. The capsule orbited Earth multiple times, aligning for a precise deorbit burn that guided it to the designated splashdown zone. The crew endured the crucial re-entry phase, widely considered the most dangerous part of spaceflight. Plunging through Earth’s atmosphere at speeds exceeding 27,000 km/h, the Dragon capsule’s heat shield withstood temperatures up to 1,600°C. For several tense minutes, a communications blackout gripped Mission Control and families until the spacecraft emerged safely from its fiery descent, confirming a successful landing. What next? Now, the crew will be taken to the Johnson Space Centre, Houston, for medical evaluation. After adjusting to microgravity in space, the astronauts will now have to readjust to gravity on Earth. Shukla and others will be screened on several health parameters. Based on these, they will get a personalised reconditioning plan to improve their mobility, balance, strength, flexibility, aerobic conditioning, and endurance, as per an Indian Express report. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Shukla’s mission While aboard the ISS, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla played a key role in over 60 scientific experiments, including groundbreaking work in plant biology, materials science, and artificial intelligence. His contributions to the Sprouts Project, studying plant growth in microgravity, are set to benefit both future space missions and scientific advancements on Earth. The experiments that Shukla and his fellow astronauts —Commander Peggy Whitson of the United States, Sławosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland, and Tibor Kapu of Hungary— conducted were intended to understand the effect of space’s microgravity on humans and other living organisms. The idea was to understand how space interacts with life. Shukla’s safe return is a moment of pride for India, highlighting the country’s expanding presence in global space exploration. Tags